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Thursday, August 13, 2015

ADHD

When it comes to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) there seems to be three distinct camps.

Camp 1 claims that it is a valid disorder, if not a full fledged disease. These people feel that the best way to deal with it is with medication. Some even go so far as to say that the earlier that medication is started the better. The problem with these medications is that their long term effect has not been studied in depth. There are indications that these drugs can cause some serious problems such as
• Permanent brain damage
• Liver damage
• Heart and blood vessel damage7
• Heart attack,
• stroke,
• sudden death
• Changes in personality, depression and/or hallucinations,
• suicide
• Increased cancer risk

Camp 2 feels that there is a problem, but that drugs are not the answer. They point to the skyrocketing rate of increase in diagnosis in the last few years. They see a correlation between the increases of chemicals in our water, food and personal care products and the increase in attention problems. If this group is correct the best way of dealing with this epidemic is to take us back to a simpler way of life with fresh foods from the garden and farm.

Camp 3 believes that ADHD doesn't exist, it is a figment of imagination of those in the medical, especially psychological, industry. These folks look at the changes in our education systems and see an impact from that on the behavior of our children. They point to the fact that teachers are changing their teaching methods in such a way that there are two groups of children that feel left out and bored.

These two groups are the ones that are ahead of what the teacher is teaching, and those that are behind and are struggling to catch up. There are less physical activities in the classroom as well. A bored child has a harder time focusing on the subject matter. They also have a harder time sitting still.

This combination causes more children to be disruptive.

In this viewpoint parents are also partially to blame. They sit their small child down in front of the television for hours. Then they think there is something wrong when the child begins running around the room, jumping on the furniture and acting out what they have been watching. These parents need to understand that wiggles and short attention spans are normal in young children. They really are not tiny adults.

So, as a parent or grandparent of a young child what are you supposed to do?

1. Make sure your expectations are realistic
2. Look at the physical activity provided for the child, make sure there is enough
3. Look at the food the child is eating and eliminate the following;

If there truly is an underlying physical problem these things will still help. If it is simply emotional acting out based on environmental stimulants these changes should have a profound effect. Either way your child will be better off, and you may possibly avoid some very dangerous drugs.